Cape Mountain Passes Tour: a scenic drive through these spectacular passes, magnificent valleys and gorges, with indigenous fauna and flora, and rich in history. This tour features the most spectacular mountain passes of the Western Cape. We travel through areas where the world renowned Cape apples, South African dried fruit, the finest export grapes are produced. The town of Paarl is the best wine producing area in the Cape, and Wellington at the foot of the Drakenstein Mountains is the centre of the dried fruit industry. The Bainskloof Mountain Pass offers scenic views, and The Breede River Valley is the principal export grape growing area.

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The second mountain pass we travel through is the Du Toit’s Kloof Pass skirting the magnificent gorge, rich with indigenous mountain flora. At the summit we have a spectacular kaleidoscope of the Fairest Cape with Table Mountain in the distance. We travel through the Franschhoek Valley, arguably one of the most beautiful valleys in the world, where wine farms still bear original French names as do their wines. The winding Franschhoek Pass offers striking views of the valley. Further along, we travel through the apple orchards of Grabouw where the famous Cape apples originate from. After a visit to the Apple Museum, we return to Cape Town via Sir Lowry's Pass where we have a full view of False Bay, the Peninsula and Cape Point.

The Town of Paarl one of the best wine producing areas in the Cape. Simply a 40-minute drive outside Cape Town, at the foot of the second-largest granite outcrop in the world, you’ll find an unexpected jewel: the scenic town of Paarl.

Paarl proudly bears the title of the third-oldest town in South Africa. Standing tall on Paarl Mountain and celebrating the birth of Afrikaans is the Afrikaans Language Monument and just outside Paarl is Drakenstein Prison, where Nelson Mandela spent his last years of captivity and started his walk to freedom.

The scenic beauty of the Paarl Valley compels visitors to get in the car and drive along the many scenic routes in the valley and along the surrounding mountains. The richness in fauna and flora even attracted the attention of Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution, when he visited Paarl in 1836.

Wellington at the foot of the Drakenstein Mountains is another beautifull place we visit on this Cape Mountain Passes Tour. It is also the centre of the dried fruit industry. Nestling at the foot of the Groenberg, the historic town of Wellington lies in a picturesque valley on the banks of the Kromme River with the majestic Hawequa Mountains standing guard on its eastern border.

Wellington, in the heart of the Boland and rich in cultural, religious and educational history, is an unsurpassed area to enjoy the Winelands and scenery of the Western Cape in South Africa.

Only 45 minutes from Cape Town. Wellington's economy is centered around agriculture such as wine, table grapes, citrus fruit and a brandy industry. Wellington forms the center of the Cape Winelands with its picturesque environment and numerous wineries, This Beautiful town offers a mix of fabulous shopping treats to tourists. The town is at the base of one of the oldest mountain passes in the country, the Bain's Kloof Mountain Pass.

The Bain's Kloof Mountain Pass offers many scenic views. Completed in 1853, this pass was designed and built by temporary Wellington resident Andrew Geddes Bain. The Scottish born engineer was the first man to build a road across the Limiet Mountains, the main barrier between the Cape Settlement and the interior. Bain achieved this remarkable feat without any formal engineering training, and then continued to build several more passes in the Western Cape. Bain's Kloof Pass, one of the most picturesque and magnificently constructed passes in South Africa, is a National Monument which blends in perfectly with its natural surroundings.

The beauty of the area is best viewed either by foot, by horse or by car to take in the scenery of nature, fynbos, wine, olives and the historical buildings to name but a few. The pass up to Bain's Kloof winds through pine tree plantations, to the summit where on a clear day you can see a vast area, consisting of the Swartland to the left, home of the extensive wheat fields, the Cape Flats and Cape Town to the right, and the sun glimmering on the sea.

The Breede River Valley is the largest fruit and wine producing valley in the Western Cape and is South Africa's leading racehorse breeding area. It is part of the Boland bordering on becoming Little Karoo towards the east. This semiarid area, part of the Little Karoo, offers magnificent scenery and is known for its indigenous fynbos and proteas. The clear mountain streams are in stark contrast with their rugged surrounds and the wildlife in the reserves offer visitors a chance to get a taste of Africa. Cape Route 62 that meanders between Cape Town and Oudtshoorn runs through the Breede River Valley.

The valley was formed by its namesake, the Breede River. It is completely encircled by high mountains of the Cape Fold Belt ranging in height from 1500m to upwards of 2000m's. It stretches from Tulbagh in the north to McGregor in the south and Rawsonville in the west to Ashton and Bonnievale in the east.

It is climatically diverse, however it completely falls within a Mediterranean Climate. Towards the north and west, rainfall approaches upwards of 1000mm p.a., particularly in the Slanghoek Region near Rawsonville, whilst it becomes drier towards the south and west, with most areas averaging 300mm p.a., with areas near Worcester only receiving 175mm p.a. Thus Karoo Shrub dominates eastern hills, with lush Fynbos vegetation dominating western regions.

The Du Toit’s Kloof Pass is a must see on this Cape Mountain Passes Tour. The journey through the spectacular Du Toit's Kloof Pass will stay with you for a long time to come. The pass is skirting a magnificent gorge, rich with indigenous mountain fauna and flora. Du Toit's Peak (1995m) is the highest seaward facing peak in the Cape Fold Belt ranges, i.e. the highest peak in the Western Cape within direct sight of the ocean. Located between Paarl and Worcester in the south-west of South Africa, 70 km to the north-east of the provincial capital of Cape Town. The mountains form a formidable barrier between Cape Town and the rest of Africa on the N1 highway, This section is called the Du Toit's Kloof Pass. The old route culminates at 820m, however, the new Huguenot Tunnel, of 4,4 km in length, cuts out the old mountain pass.

The range is comprised mostly of Table Mountain sandstone, an erosion-resistant quartzitic sandstone. Vegetation is almost exclusively montaine fynbos of the Cape floral region. The rest of the mountains are barren rocks and steep cliffs. Precipitation occurs primarily in the winter months as rain on the lower slopes and as snow higher up, usually above 1000m. Climate varies dramatically, with the surrounding valleys being up to 10°C warmer than the mountains. The climate falls within the Mediterranean type.

The valley was originally settled in 1688 by French Huguenot refugees, many of whom were given land by the Dutch government in a valley called Olifantshoek ("Elephants' corner"), so named because of the vast herds of elephants that roamed the area. The name of the area soon changed to Franschhoek, with many of the settlers naming their new farms after the areas in France from which they came. La Motte, La Cotte, Cabrière, Provence, Chamonix, Dieu Donné and La Dauphine were among some of the first established farms — most of which still retain their original farm houses today. These farms have grown into renowned wineries.

The first route over the Franschhoek Mountains, the Olifants Pad, was the path that the elephants used when they did their seasonal migration into the valley. This route, however, was not suitable for wagons and could only be crossed on foot or horseback. In 1818 a contract was awarded to a local farmer SJ Cats to construct a pass. His best efforts resulted only in a very rough road (the Cats Pass), very steep on both sides of the mountain and could not be traversed by a fully laden wagon.

When Lord Charles Somerset authorised the construction of the Franschhoek Pass in 1823, there was no proper-engineered road over the mountains from Cape Town. Major William Cuthbert Holloway headed up the Colonial Engineer's Department at that time. Holloway built the first stone-arch bridge, Jan Joubert's Gat Bridge, on the eastern side over a kloof with the same name. This bridge was included in all later constructions and was proclaimed a National Monument in 1979. It is still the oldest bridge in the country still in use. The pass served as the main gateway to the Overberg until 1830, when the Sir Lowry's Pass was constructed. The pass remained in tact until 1932, when it was reconstructed with improved geometries. In the 1960's further improvements were made, including a bitumen surface. The pass was completely resurfaced in 2005 and is one of the most pleasant and picturesque passes in the area.

Another town we visit on this Cape Mountain Passes Tour is Grabouw, a mid-sized town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa some 65km south-east of Cape Town along the N2 highway. It is located over Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West in the Elgin Valley, which is sandwiched between the Hottentots-Holland, Kogelberg and Groenland Mountains. The town's economy is based on servicing the surrounding agricultural industry, with the Elgin Valley being intensively used for viticulture and the cultivation of apples, pears, plums and other deciduous fruit. One of the biggest factories in Grabouw is Appletiser which provides the popular Appletiser soft drinks. Tourism is also of importance to the economy. The N2 highway through the valley is extremely busy during the holiday season.

Grabouw is the commercial centre for what is the largest single export fruit producing area in Southern Africa. The town was created on the farm Grietjiesgat acquired on 22 November 1856 by Willem Langschmidt, who named the place after Grabau, the village of his birth in Germany. His wife opened a little trading store and he was the bookkeeper. Later he sold parts of his farm and so began the farming community of Grabouw as it was later spelt. Langschmidt was the father of 23 children, including 3 sets of twins.

The visitor to Grabouw and the Elgin Valley region will enjoy a picturesque countryside with fertile valleys, overlooking orchards and rambling roses, pine plantations, open pastures, scenic passes through majestic pine covered mountains.

Early travelers would not have had an easy time of attempts to negotiate the Hottentot’s Holland Mountain range, which stretches along the eastern side of Somerset West and Gordons Bay, providing one of the most awe-inspiring backdrops in the Western Cape - on a clear day you can view the range all the way from the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Today, Sir Lowry’s Pass allows easy passage across this daunting natural barrier.

Sir Lowry's Pass is a mountain pass on the N2 national road in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It crosses the Hottentots-Holland mountain range between Somerset West and Grabouw on the main national road between Cape Town and the Garden Route. A railway line also crosses the mountain range at this point. The summit of the pass is at 420m. There is a viewpoint at the summit and this point is also used as a paragliding launch point. The top of the pass was formerly the start of the Boland Hiking Trail, but this section of the trail was closed after a number of deaths due to the difficult hiking conditions. On the Grabouw side, the road passes the Steenbras Dam. Sir Lowry's Pass Village is situated near the base of the pass.

But Sir Lowry’s Pass is a lot more than a route across a formidable mountain range. It is also a haunt for bird watchers and nature lovers and the car park, on the western side of the N2 as one approaches the top of the pass, provides a perfect stop to explore the area. The mountain fynbos is fairly accessible here and one can take time to explore the mountain side and the lower areas where streams become densely vegetated and provide perfect cover for birds.

The town side of Sir Lowry’s Pass has some truly awesome views over False Bay, whilst over the other side of the mountain one enters a beautiful valley that is home to forests, orchards, fruit, flowers and vineyards - the Elgin Valley. In spring this part of the world is a display of blossoming fruit trees and heavy with grapes on the vine.

We return to Cape Town via Sir Lowry's Pass where we have a full view of False Bay, the Peninsula and Cape Point.

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